MSDH photo Lois Moore, an immunization nurse, administers a COVID-19 vaccine to Mississippi State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs during a press briefing on Monday.  

Mississippi State Department of Health officials received the first COVID-19 vaccinations in the state on Monday.

Lois Moore, an immunization nurse, administered the first vaccine to State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs during a press briefing.

“It felt like a butterfly,” Dobbs said, adding that he experienced a little bit of sting.

Dobbs said beforehand that the vaccine has a favorable side effect profile. He said he might experience some swelling after receiving the shot and possibly will feel “a little bit of achiness” the following day.

“But that’s so much worth it,” he said. “We know how deadly, devastating and disruptive coronavirus has been for the state of Mississippi, so we look forward in the next several minutes to get the first COVID-19 vaccines in the state of Mississippi.”

In addition to Dobbs, state epidemiologist Dr. Paul Byers and three other health officials were vaccinated during the press conference.

Mississippi is receiving 25,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in its first allotment. 3 million doses are being shipped nationwide this week, according to the Associated Press.

The FDA said that the vaccine appears safe and strongly protective, the Associated Press reported. The agency will decide later this week whether to approve another vaccine, which was developed by biotechnology company Moderna.

Byers said several medical facilities in the state are receiving COVID-19 vaccines Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday of this week.

In Lauderdale County, Anderson Regional Health System expects to receive its first allotment of COVID-19 vaccines in the next few days, according to the health system’s chief medical officer, Dr. Keith Everett. He said shipment of the vaccines is imminent, and he estimated that the vaccines would arrive by the end of the week or, at the latest, early next week.

“I’m excited about it coming,” Everett said, “because I think that is the first step in us being able to get control of this pandemic.”

He said the health system will either be receiving the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine or the Moderna vaccine. Employees will go to a specific location in the hospital at scheduled times to receive their vaccine, he said. The employees who will get the vaccine first are front-line workers — including doctors, nurses and technicians — who are exposed to COVID-19 positive or possibly COVID-19 positive patients.

Dr. Fred Duggan, chief medical officer at Rush Health Systems, believes the health system will receive its first vaccine allotment early next week. He said this is not set in stone, though.

He expects Rush to receive the Moderna vaccine, because the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine would require storing the vaccine at an extremely low temperature.

“A lot of those vaccines are going to go to areas where they have much more capability to keep it a very low temperature,” he said.

Duggan said the vaccine will first be given to employees who are at the highest risk of exposure to COVID-19, like ER employees.

The vaccine comes during a surge in COVID-19 cases in Mississippi. The state’s seven-day rolling average of new COVID-19 cases is 2,129.

1,648 new COVID-19 cases and five new deaths were reported in Mississippi on Monday, bringing the state’s totals to 181,095 cases and 4,204 deaths.

Dobbs announced in a tweet on Friday that some elective surgeries that require hospitalization will be delayed starting on Tuesday. Specifically, his department is restricting elective surgeries for which a delay would not result in long-term harm to the individual, he said on Monday.

Gov. Tate Reeves has also placed restrictions on the state to slow the spread of the coronavirus. 

At indoor social gatherings where social distancing is not possible, crowds must be limited to no more than 10 people in a single space, Reeves announced on Dec. 9. At outdoor social gatherings, no more than 50 people can gather in close proximity to each other.

Reeves is also requiring people in 61 counties — including Lauderdale, Kemper and Neshoba counties — to wear a face covering when indoors and interacting with the public.

COVID-19 case and death numbers for several local counties are listed below.

Lauderdale County: 43 new cases; 4,220 total cases since March. No new deaths; 157 total deaths since March.

Newton County: 12 new cases; 1,327 total cases since March. No new deaths; 31 total deaths since March.

Kemper County: nine new cases; 602 total cases. No new deaths; 19 total deaths.

Clarke County: eight new cases; 1,046 total cases. No new deaths; 55 total deaths.

Neshoba County: 32 new cases; 2,583 total cases. One new death, which occurred between December 12 and 13; 132 total deaths since March.

MSDH presumes 148,466 people have recovered from COVID-19. The department also reported that there are 218 ongoing outbreaks of COVID-19 in long-term-care facilities.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.